As I wrote earlier, the attacking mob in this case was surely made up of Orthodox Jews. It was. And they’re haredim. The NY Daily News reports:

Umbar Islam shows the bloodstained jacket that was worn by his son Shahid Amber, 24, when he was allegedly attacked by gang of Orthodox Jewish teens because he is a Muslim.

Five Orthodox Jewish teens have been slammed with hate-crime charges in the brutal beating of a Pakistani immigrant in Brooklyn.

"They hit me in the face with brass knuckles four or five times while somebody held my hands," said the victim, Shahid Amber, 24, a gas station attendant. "Then they all beat and kicked me. They were screaming ‘Muslim m-f-r. You m-f-g Muslim terrorists. Go back to your country.’ "

Amber, who was eating ice cream outside a Midwood Dunkin’ Donuts when the gang attacked on Sunday, needed 15 stitches on his broken nose and reconstructive surgery.

Witnesses who called 911 said that 10-12 youths jumped him, a source said.

Amber said the attack began after one of the group asked if he were Muslim and he answered yes. Amber’s father, Umbar Islam, 56, described a brutal assault by boys in long black jackets, black pants and black hats.

"They punched and broke his nose. They ripped his jacket. He was covered in blood. They said, ‘Jews rule this country!’ " Islam said. "These people are crazy. In his life, he’s never fought. He doesn’t know how to fight."

Horowitz and Brach were freed on their own recognizance. The other three were ordered to pay $5,000 cash bond and are due back in court today.…

Haredi schools do not teach basic civics let alone an appreciation for democracy. It is undemocratic and violence-prone. We will see more attacks like this in the future, unless haredi leaders act. But, as one noted haredi leader has written, the last spate of violence was shoved under the rug. (And, I would add, the gedolim, as usual, were and are weak and ineffective, far more concerned about PR than truth or Torah.)

These are not “Hareidim.” Maybe their parents are, but these are rough and tumble kids who hang out at “our place”, which is an at-risk teen center on Ave. M. I wouldn’t even classify them as yeshiva boys, in the sense that they don’t sit and learn by day and go Paki-bashing at night.

No one should do what they did, but this isn’t accurate if presented as “Yeshiva Boys Gone Wild.”

So, they’re shababniks. They still grew up haredi and were educated – such as that may be – in haredi schools. At risk youth are not automatically violent and racist. Usually, they are self-destructive. The MO at risk kids I knew were not violent.

Come on, Shmarya. YOU didn’t know any violent at-risk MO kids – and that proves anything at all? The actions of this group of common street thugs is unpardonable – wherever they went to school. But to blame the Haredi system for their violence, as you are doing here is out of line, in my opinion. There are bad apples in every bunch. This group has proven themselves to be particularly rotten.

That said, I don’t think Haredim in Boro Park or Flatbush encourage violence any more than the MO world does. Perhaps violence in the name of religion is condoned in certain Haredi communities in Israel – but not in Brooklyn.

MO kids learn about democracy and are taught to appreciate it. Haredi kids are not. And MO kids have religious leaders who condemn this type of action and workd actively to prevent it. Haredi kids do not.

That being said, there is much to your argument. There are bad apples everywhere. But read the Rabbi Horowitz column I linked in this post. Why are haredi leaders AWOL?

. Why are haredi leaders AWOL?
That is a different question, and one I cannot argue with. Charedi leaders tend to shy away from pointing out the bad behavior that exists in their own communities, and that denial does their communities no favors whatsoever.

“Those are “off the derech kids”, publicly desecrating Shabbat who cannot be called Hareidi by any stretch of imagination.”
Off the derech kids disaffected with religion don’t ordinarily go out and commit violent crimes. They were wearing (and disgracing!) the haredi uniform, and haredi rabbinic and lay leaders are AWOL as usual.
The victim seems to remember the key facts, and there were plenty of onlookers and the accounts of the arresting officers. It strains credulity to suggest that one man started with five, and that a vicious five-on-one beating was an appropriate response.

You know, I don’t think it matters if they were MO or not, off the derech or not. They at least appeared to be Haredim or Orthodox Jews of soe sort, making it STILL A CHILLUL HASHEM and a slur against the Jewish people. It’s like someone eating a bacon double cheeseburger while wearing a kippa.

That being said, someone needs to beat these guys’ asses for being Jews. Then they will see what it is like to be a victim of a hate crime which this clearly was.

Maybe they can ask their parents what it is like to be beaten up for being Jewish.

“Those are “off the derech kids”, publicly desecrating Shabbat who cannot be called Hareidi by any stretch of imagination.”
Off the derech kids disaffected with religion don’t ordinarily go out and commit violent crimes. They were wearing (and disgracing!) the haredi uniform, and haredi rabbinic and lay leaders are AWOL as usual.
The victim seems to remember the key facts, and there were plenty of onlookers and the accounts of the arresting officers. It strains credulity to suggest that one man started with five, and that a vicious five-on-one beating was an appropriate response.”
This was mine; I forgot to sign it. When I was growing up it was commonplace for Jewish people going outside with kippot to be beaten up; things didn’t really get better until after the Six Day War, when we started to fight back. Then our high birth rate ensured that there would be more of us than of them 🙂 These spoiled brats don’t know what it is to be on the receiving end of hate and bigotry.

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